I have rarely timed my writing so well: a few days after I pointed out the obvious link between Occupy Wall Street, college-related debt of former students, and the new (and inadequate) income-based repayment program for student loans, the president announces changes to the income-based repayment program to reduce the debt-overhang burden on recent graduates and current students. As others have pointed out, the changes are incremental, and I suspect the most important effect of the announcement is simple advertisement that it exists, to get more people signed up.
The real solution is something like Kevin Carey’s proposal for income-based loans, which he advocated in a Chronicle of Higher Ed column this week. With income-based loans, we wouldn’t have to create loan-forgiveness policies for special-education teachers, rural doctors, etc. It would be a general message: Want a college education and then serve the public at low salaries? We (the public) have your back.